Branding Usability and Localization

February 20, 2013

Many businesses throughout the world spent a lot of time and
effort to create their brand experience that embodies their
product/service yet is unique and easy to remember. And when the
companies are ready to launch their brand to the global market,
determining the treatment the brand name in each country will be
one of the most important tasks of all.

With the proliferation of innovative and advanced technologies
to facilitate communication and shorten the distance across the
world, many start-up companies already have their global market
expansion in mind from the very beginning when they are creating
the brand name. This advanced planning can accelerate global brand
expansion and extension. The key to successfully create a global
brand name, or to 'globalize' an already established brand, is to
check potential brand name usability in each locale through a
professional linguist.

Branding and Localization

It is true that when the original brand names are
short and simple, it is sometimes a good choice to keep them as is
instead of translating them. Companies like Sony, Google, Intel, they have kept the same
name in multiple countries. But as each country, culture and
language is beautiful and unique in its own way, it will be
incorrect to assume the same name will be appropriate or the best
options for all target locales. Some of the best examples are
companies such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, and PizzaHut branding
localized into Chinese.

The Chinese branding for Coca-Cola is 可口可樂 (Simplified Chinese
is 可口可乐 ) The direct translation for the first two characters
可口 is "delicious". The last two characters "可樂" mean "able to
enjoy". In addition, this term has become official translation for
"Coke" for all brands. This great branding localization not only
has positive meaning, but just like its original brand name, is
easy to pronounce and hard to forget. This branding also enhances
their advertising effectiveness and tagline creativity. Another
great example is "Sprite". Its Chinese name is "雪碧" (Traditional
and Simplified Chinese share identical characters). "雪" means
"snow", and "碧" is either an adjective or noun for blue or
blue-green. This combination brings the feeling of icy-coldness and
freshness, and the meaning of "碧" also resonates for its green
packaging. The pronunciation of the Chinese brand is also very
similar to the English name. For more information regarding global
branding, please check out our previous blog Tips for a Truly Global
Tagline.

There are also some not so successful branding
localization examples. Often it's the lack of localization
that can be harmful to the brand or make the company/product a
laughable subject. Therefore, whether you decide to keep original
branding or already have localized brand names in mind, checking
the usability is vital and necessary.

Here are some suggestions to check your current
brand usability:

Direct translation and transliteration (if possible) of the
target language/locale: you would want to see the meaning of your
original brand for your target market and make sure it has no
negative impact. Transliteration, meaning phonetic translation in
this case, is also important, especially for the Asian market.
Transliteration can make or break your branding in other countries.
It is also a good idea to ask the linguist to perform a reverse
translation back into the source language and expand on the
meaning, if necessary.

Level of difficulty in pronunciation: Certain words or letter
combinations are difficult to pronounce for people speaking certain
languages. Mispronunciation may also be a cause for
misunderstanding.

Profanity check: it goes without saying that you don't want to
appear to be vulgar and offensive as it will not draw business to
your brand.

Similar brand names in the target language/locale: great minds
think alike. Unfortunately, you might not be the first one to come
up with this wonderful brand name. If there are other brand names
similar to yours, you would want to find out how and where they are
used as your brand name might be confused with theirs.

Notable results found in commonly used search engines: you
never know what is going to pop up, especially if your brand name
is an acronym. When your potential customers are searching about
your company/service/product, they will see those search results as
well.

Keep in mind that even though some countries speak the same
languages, but they still have different dialects, slang, or terms
specific to each locale. For that reason, the check should not only
be done per language, but per target locale. Also, don't forget to
check your URL, logo, and taglines.

Further Resources on Global Branding and Translation
Services

GPI has provided extensive language translation
services to the Food and Hospitality industries worldwide. In
addition, GPI has developed a user-friendly translation portal that
makes it extremely easy for non-technical users in these industries
to submit projects for translation.

You will find the links below to some of our services and a blog
on global tourism translation issues highly useful:

Comments

Heba Nady - Global Client Services ManagerHebatullah Mahmoud Nady (Heba) is a native Arabic speaker who lives in Cairo, Egypt. She has 11 years of experience in client relations and project management, working in different industries, such as publishing, oil and gas and foremost translation and localization. Heba holds a B.A. degree in English Language and Literature from Ain Shams University, and has a great passion for language and culture. She has been actively managing many localization and translation projects for major clients since 2008 and is well versed in a wide range of localization tools and practices. Heba enjoys working with teams from different cultures and bringing people together to achieve a common goal. For her translation is a mission that contributes to enriching Arabic and other cultures and languages. In her free time, Heba likes to read about literature and management, and go site-seeing.